


Office Gossip

by cdreaiton



Category: DRAMAtical Murder
Genre: Anal Sex, Angst and Humor, Bullying, Comfort/Angst, M/M, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Non-Graphic Violence, Office Sex, Sex Toys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-25
Updated: 2014-10-13
Packaged: 2018-01-20 18:39:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1521419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cdreaiton/pseuds/cdreaiton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set after the game when Aoba and Noiz go to Germany.  Aoba works for Noiz at his company.  Someone is bullying Aoba, rumors about who Noiz is sleeping with fly around the office, and a case of mistaken gender lands Aoba in an uncomfortable situation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Shock

_Please note:_

_Japanerin - German word which basically means 'young Japanese woman'_

_Danke - Thank you_

_Ja - Yes_

_liebchen -  Term of endearment used for young women and children_

 

\----------------

 

“Japanerin!”

 

Aoba turned to face the woman coming down the hall behind him.  He wasn’t too terribly fond of the office nickname he’d somehow picked up, but he would never tell them that.  He smiled at the woman.  She was holding a manilla envelope and waving it towards him.  He stopped and reached out a hand to grab it.

 

“Danke.  For Mr. Noiz?”  Aoba took the folder and placed it in the pile already in his arms.

 

“Ja.  For the meeting today.”  She smiled sweetly at him.  When Aoba turned to go she grabbed his arm and stopped him.  “Meeting will run long.  Have lunch with us?”

 

Aoba hesitated a little.  The ladies who worked in Noiz’s company office were kind and always asking him to join them for lunch.  And it wasn’t that he didn’t want to, or that he didn’t like them.  His German was just so terrible that he couldn’t really understand anything they were saying.  And none of them spoke any Japanese beyond ‘Konichiwa’.  He felt bad turning them down every time, but he usually had lunch with Noiz anyway.  Today was different.  Noiz was going to be in a meeting all day so Aoba had brought a bento with him and had planned on eating at his desk by himself.  Even if he couldn’t understand the conversation, eating with other people was better than being alone.  He smiled at the woman.

 

“Sure.  I will.”

 

The woman’s smile brightened when she heard his answer.

 

“Good!  See you later!”

 

She turned and walked back down the hall to the cubicle area where everyone’s desks were.  Aoba sighed and his shoulder dropped a little.  He just hoped they didn’t ask too many questions.  He opened the door to Noiz’s office and went inside.

 

\----------------------------

 

The day had been pretty uneventful.  He’d gotten all his paperwork done, filed said paperwork, finished up a report for next week, and double checked the presentation Noiz would be using for his meeting tomorrow.  Aoba sighed heavily and rubbed his eyes.  Only a few more minutes until lunch.  He straightened up his desk and then went to the break room to grab his coat and keys.  The office ladies would be around any moment to pick him up for lunch.

 

When he opened his locker, he noticed something was off.  His bento box was tied funny.  He knew he had tied it correctly before leaving for the day.  A small feeling of sadness coiled in his stomach.  He knew before he even opened the box what had happened.  Sure enough, when he opened the lid to his bento there were two little earth worms wriggling around the food.  Swallowing down the bile that rose to this throat, he tossed the entire box into the garbage.

 

This wasn’t the first time, and he was sure it wouldn’t be the last.  Someone in the office hated him, but he had no idea who, or why.  He thought he had been kind to everyone, but somewhere along the line he must have offended someone.  Grabbing his coat, he checked the pockets.  As soon as he felt the cold, wriggly bodies he withdrew his hand immediately, tossed the coat into the trash next to the spoiled bento, and washed his hands in the sink.

 

As he scrubbed the nasty feeling from his hands, he bit back tears.  This was the third time the mystery person had ruined his coat, and Aoba was running out of excuses for why he needed to keep getting new coats.

 

He had thought about telling Noiz about the situation, but he knew what Noiz would do.  He’d turn the office upside down searching for the person, disrupting everyone and accusing innocent people.  Aoba didn’t want that.  He just wanted to keep his head down and get his work done.  But lately, things were starting to get worse.

 

When Aoba had first come to Germany, he’d stayed home while Noiz went to work.  But after nearly a month of doing nothing, Aoba begged Noiz to let him go out and have a job.  Noiz refused.  A few weeks later, Aoba was close to losing his mind from boredom and he asked Noiz again.  Noiz again refused.  So Aoba got creative.  He told Noiz that they would not have sex until he let Aoba have a job.  Two days later, Noiz caved.  The only condition was that Aoba had to work at Noiz’s company.  And so, Aoba was hired on as Noiz’s personal secretary.  The ‘incidents’ started happening the day after he started.  That was two months ago.

 

A tap on his shoulder brought Aoba back to the present.  The woman from earlier was looking at him worriedly.

 

“Are you alright, Japanerin?”  The woman, Aoba thought her name was Anelie, seemed genuinely concerned.  He smiled weakly at her.

 

“Yeah.  Work is stressful.  Ready for lunch?”  Aoba dodged the question neatly, gesturing towards the door.

 

“Yes.  Let’s go.”  Anelie looped her arm in his and lead the way.

 

\-------------------------

 

There were seven women from the office at lunch that day.  After a semi-heated conversation regarding where to go, Ida had insisted they try the new French cafe that had opened just down the street from the office.  Luckily the cafe had a table big enough for the eight of them.

 

After they had finished eating the majority of their food, the women had begun to talk about their boyfriends.  Aoba listened politely, but never joined in the conversation.  At least he tried not to.

 

“Are you seeing anyone, Aoba?”  Dana asked, turning towards him with a small sparkle in her eyes.  She was a heavier set woman who was always asking Aoba questions about Japan.

 

“Me?  Um…”  Aoba thought desperately.  He couldn’t exactly tell them he was sleeping with the boss, but he didn’t really want to lie to them either.  Luckily, one of the other women interjected on his behalf.

 

“I don’t think our little Japanerin has been here long enough to find a lover yet.  Don’t worry liebchen.  You’ll find someone soon enough.”  Irma smiled fondly at him and patted his hand.  She was an older woman that everyone around the office saw as their grandma.  He smiled back at her gratefully.

 

“Well I’ve been seeing someone new recently.”

 

Aoba cringed.  The woman who had spoken was named Klara.  She was a thin, blonde haired woman who wore too much make-up.  Her voice was high pitched at made Aoba’s head hurt.  The men of the office thought she was gorgeous, but Aoba just thought she was pretentious.  She was the only person in the office Aoba didn’t particularly care for.

 

“It’s not that mouth-breather from R&D is it?  He’s a total pig.”  This response came from Johanna, the youngest member of the group.  She had started at the company only a few weeks before Aoba.

 

“Another one Klara?  You go through boyfriends faster than most people go through a box of tissue paper.”  Brigitta was a stern woman in her mid 40’s, who always had an opinion on how everyone else should be living their life.  Aoba liked her.  Her words might seem harsh at first, but he knew she always meant well.

 

“This one is different.  He’s definitely a keeper.  He’s rich, handsome, and...well...let’s just say he has some ‘skills’.”  Klara giggled.  Aoba’s eye twitched.  He picked at the remains of his lunch with his fork, trying to block out her voice.

 

“Well don’t keep us in suspense.  Who is it?”  Anelie asked.

 

Klara leaned in and spoke in a near whisper.

 

“Mr. Noiz.”

 

Aoba froze.  The women around him gasped in surprise and began asking all sorts of questions, but Aoba couldn’t hear them.  His heart was pounding so loudly, it was making his ears ring.

 

It was impossible.  Noiz would never cheat on him.  Never.  Aoba knew that.  He trusted Noiz.  There was no way Noiz was sleeping with Klara.  She was obviously lying.  Aoba took a few shallow breaths, trying to calm himself.  Then a thought came to his mind.  There were a few things about Noiz that only a person who was actually sleeping with him would know.  Aoba felt his shoulders drop in relief.  All he had to do was ask a carefully worded question and all his fears would be put at ease.

 

“So…”  His voice was a bit higher than normal and squeaked when he spoke, so he cleared his throat and tried again, everyone looking at him.  “So, what is he like...you know...down there?”  He blushed furiously as he asked the question.  Klara looked at him and smiled.  For a brief moment, Aoba thought he saw hatred in her eyes before she looked away from him and once again leaned in and spoke in a near whisper.

 

“You will never believe this.  He’s...pierced.  All over.”

 

Aoba felt his heart break in his chest at her words.  He sat in his chair in a daze as Klara’s words repeated over and over in his mind.  There was only one way for her to know about his piercings.  Swallowing dryly, Aoba stood up and left the table, ignoring the concerned calls behind him.

 

He walked back to the office on autopilot, repeating the same phrase to himself over and over.  It can’t be true.  It can’t be true.  It can’t be…

 

“Aoba!”  Anelie came rushing up behind him concern on her face and worry in her voice.  “What’s wrong?  Are you alright?”  She placed a hand on his forehead.  He barely felt her touch.  “You don’t seem to have a fever.  Was it something we said?  Did the conversation upset you?”  She brushed a lock of blue hair out of his eyes, and raised his chin so that he was looking into her eyes.  “Is it because Klara’s seeing Mr. Noiz?”

 

Aoba felt tears beginning to form at the corners of his eyes.  They did not escape Anelie’s notice.  She pulled him in close and wrapped her arms around him.

 

“I’m sorry, liebchen.  I’m so sorry.  No one knew you felt that way.  And don’t worry about it too much.  Klara’s no great catch.  Mr. Noiz will dump her soon and then you can swoop right in.  You’re beautiful and talented and kind.  Everyone knows that.  I’m sure that once Klara’s out of the way, you’ll get your chance.”

 

As Anelie talked, Aoba’s tears began to flow.  He wanted to tell her everything, but he couldn’t.  He could only stand there, in the middle of the sidewalk, and cry.

 

 


	2. Disbelief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trying to keep his mind off the idea that Noiz might be cheating, Aoba goes out for a night with the girls.

The hot water ran down his skin, washing away the stresses of the day, and the smell of the soap relaxed his mind as it refreshed his body.  He massaged the shampoo into his scalp, forcing the pain in his head to recede.  It had been a long day.

 

After he’d calmed down and returned to the office, Aoba hadn’t stayed very long.  He’d gathered his things quickly and quietly, said a brief goodbye to his co-workers, and headed for home.  The staff at the estate had been surprised to see him home so early, and had berated him with questions.  Using the excuse ‘I have a headache and don’t feel very well’, he’d managed to fend them off for a while.  One of the maids had promised to bring him some soup in a little while, after he got some rest.  Trudging up the stairs to his bedroom, he’d quickly taken off his clothes and gotten into the shower, where he’d been for the last 45 minutes.

 

As he rinsed the shampoo from his hair, he thought again about the whole situation.  And the more he thought about it, the more ridiculous it seemed.  Why would Noiz cheat on him?  Why would Noiz cheat on him with Klara?  The idea was preposterous.  And yet.  How else could Klara have known about Noiz’s piercings unless she had seen them?  What other reason would she have for seeing that part of him?

 

Question after question swam through his mind, and Aoba had no answers.  He thought about asking Noiz, but there were two problems with that idea.  The first, was that Noiz was going to be in meetings from sun-up until well past sun-down all week.  And the second, was that if Aoba confronted Noiz about cheating, and he wasn’t, Noiz would come up with some cruel and devious way of punishing Aoba for questioning his loyalty.  And if it turned out he was cheating, then…

 

Aoba opened the eyes he hadn’t realized he’d closed.  What would he do if Noiz really was cheating on him?  Would he leave and go back to Japan?  Would he forgive him?  Aoba wasn’t sure himself.  He didn’t want to leave Noiz, he loved him.  But if those feelings were no longer returned, could he really just sit back and watch as the man he loved chose someone else?  Aoba sighed as he turned off the water.  He had far too many questions, and not a single answer for any of them.  And the only way for him to get answers was to find out whether or not Noiz really was cheating on him, and that meant talking to Noiz.

 

He couldn’t talk to Noiz about anything until the end of the week.  Once the long meetings were over and life went back to a semi-normal state, he would pull Noiz aside and tell him about what he heard.  Until then, he would just act like nothing had happened.

 

Aoba nodded to himself and squared his shoulders.  Picking up his towel, he dried off and headed into the bedroom to get dressed, confident that everything was going to be okay.  He woke Ren up from sleep mode and busied himself doing some maintenance on his allmate.

 

\----------------------

 

Several hours later, Aoba looked up from his computer and checked the time.  It was late, and Noiz would be home soon.  Anxiety began to build in his chest as he thought about what he would do, and what he would say when Noiz returned.  Noiz was extremely perceptive.  If Aoba’s actions were off by the tiniest amount, Noiz would know and would question him about it.  And Aoba couldn’t lie to Noiz.  As his panic grew, an idea occurred to him.  He quickly turned his computer off and got into his pajamas.  If he was asleep when Noiz got home, then he wouldn’t have to do or say anything.

 

Aoba turned off the lights, slipped into bed and took a few deep breaths, trying to relax.  The tension and stress from the day started to catch up with him, and he was surprised at how tired he actually was.  Before he knew it, his eyes had closed and he was beginning to drift off.

 

At the edge of his consciousness, he heard the door to the bedroom open and the muffled footsteps of someone coming inside.  Noiz sighed tiredly as he stripped off his jacket and tie, tossing them haphazardly on the chair Aoba had been sitting in only moments before.  Sleep tugged at the back of Aoba’s mind, and he had no strength to resist it.

 

As he gave in to his exhaustion, Aoba felt a cool hand on his head, and long fingers ran through his hair.

 

“Schlaf güt, mein Hase.  Ich liebe dich.”

_(Sleep well, my Bunny.  I love you.)_

 

\------------------------

 

When Aoba woke up the next morning, Noiz was already gone.  With a mixed sigh of relief and sadness, Aoba got himself up and going.

 

The office was already bustling with activity when Aoba arrived.  He spotted Anelie waving to him from across the room, and waved back, smiling softly.  She smiled back at him, concern and understanding in her eyes.  Sitting down at his desk, Aoba was preparing his work for the day when his desk phone rang.  He grabbed it quickly and put the receiver to his ear.

 

“This is Aoba.”

 

“Aoba.”  Noiz’s voice was professional and a bit brusque.  “Would you send Klara in please?”

 

Aoba’s voice caught in his throat as his heart sunk to the floor.

 

“Aoba?  Are you there?”

 

“Yes.  Yes, I’m here.  Sorry, I was just seeing if she’d come in yet.  I’ll send her right in.”

 

Before Noiz could respond, Aoba hung up the phone and shut his eyes firmly, willing his tears away.  It was perfectly normal for Noiz to need to speak to Klara.  She was in charge of the financial reports for Noiz’s latest project.  Perfectly normal.

 

Repeating this to himself like a prayer, Aoba stood and looked around the office for Klara.  She was in the break room, talking to Dana and Johanna.  Steeling himself, Aoba quickly wiped a hand over his eyes, put on his best smile, and walked over to them.

 

“Klara.  Mr. Noiz would like to see you in his office.”

 

The smile that she returned did not match the cold and vindictive look in her eyes.  She giggled briefly and lowered her voice.

 

“That man is insatiable.  He can’t even wait until lunch.”  Giggling again, Klara smiled at Dana and Johanna, turned away, and walked towards Noiz’s office.

 

When Aoba felt Dana’s hand on his cheek, he realized he was crying.  Jerking back to reality, he brushed the tears away with the back of his hand, and smiled at the two women.

 

“Sorry.  Just some allergies.  I’m fine.”

 

As Aoba turned to return to his desk, Johanna grabbed his shoulder, stopping him.

 

“We’re all going to do a little shopping after work and then go out to a bar tonight.  You should come with us.”

 

Aoba was about to refuse, but Dana interjected before he could get a word out.

 

“It will be a good chance for you to see the city.  And I don’t think being alone right now is the best idea.”

 

When Aoba looked back at the two women, he realized that Anelie must have told them what she thought was going on.  He hung his shoulders and dropped his gaze to the floor, nodding slightly.  Dana put her hand on his other shoulder while Johanna gave him a brief hug.

 

“We’ll be heading out right after work okay?”  Johanna’s bright smile was infectious, and Aoba found himself returning it despite the circumstances.

 

\---------------------------

 

Aoba hadn’t paid much attention to the conversation as his female co-workers dragged him off after work.  He was really only going along because he didn’t want to go home.  Everything at home reminded him of Noiz, and the women were good company.  Nevermind the fact that they didn’t really understand the reason behind his depression.

 

For the entire day, Aoba had been going over the events of the last few weeks.  Klara had been spending more time with Noiz, working on the project.  The two of them had even stayed late together on several occasions.  At the time, Aoba had thought nothing of it.  But, now…   The other thing that had been bothering him was how abnormally unaffectionate Noiz had been lately.  True, Aoba hadn’t spent more than five waking minutes with him in over a week, but Noiz hadn’t even kissed him.  The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed that Noiz was actually cheating on him with Klara.

 

And so, as he walked with his co-workers, his mind was consumed by grief and sadness.  Which was why he was caught off guard when they finally stopped.  His eyes widened and his jaw nearly dropped to the floor.  It was a lingerie shop.

 

He was in shock.  Shock tinged with a large helping of embarrassment.  The blush from his cheeks was rapidly spreading to his ears and down his neck.  He was certain that his face was putting off enough heat to boil water.  Johanna pulled on his arm, and he stumbled forward, into the open doors of the shop.

 

Once he’d been dragged inside, his face went even redder, a phenomenon Aoba hadn’t believed possible.  Johanna pulled him along, past rack after rack of frilly, lacy, see-through pieces of nothingness.  The rest of the women were in the back of the store, huddled together, looking at something that made them all giggle like little school girls.  A sudden feeling of dread began to stir in the back of Aoba’s mind.  When he saw what the women were holding, his knees became wobbly, and he tried to pull his arm out of Johanna’s grasp.

 

“No...wait...you don’t understand...I’m not…”  Aoba’s mind was incapable of putting together a whole sentence, so he stuttered, his German beginning to slur.

 

The women held in their hands a lacy, blue floral lingerie set.  Cold sweat began to run down Aoba’s back, and he pulled even harder on his arm.  He wanted to run.  As fast and as far away as he could.  But Johanna’s grip was strong.

 

“Relax, Aoba.  There’s no need to be embarrassed.  Have you ever worn something like this before?”  Johanna grabbed him tighter and put an arm around his shoulders.  Aoba shook his head emphatically.

 

“We know that you’re self-conscious about your size, that’s why you wear mens suits all the time, but you don’t need to be.  Just try it on, liebchen.  We’ll help you and make sure it fits right.  I promise it’ll look great on you.”  Dana grabbed the arm Johanna wasn’t holding and turned him towards the fitting rooms.

 

“No!  I don’t want to!  I’m not a...you don’t understand!  Let me go!”  His mind lost the ability to function properly and his speech returned to his normal Japanese.  Not understanding the language, his protests went unnoticed as Anelie opened the fitting room door and Dana escorted him inside.

 

Johanna finally let go of his arm and left the room, leaving only Dana, Anelie, and the struggling Aoba.  Dana grabbed both his arms from behind, pinning them to his sides.  Anelie reached for his suit jacket and pushed it aside.  She swiftly removed his tie and began working on unbuttoning his shirt.  When she was finished, she pulled the shirt open...and stopped, staring at his chest.  Dana, seeing Anelie’s reaction, leaned over Aoba’s shoulder and looked down.  Immediately, she released Aoba’s arms and he pulled his shirt closed over himself, breathing heavily.  Anelie spoke first.

 

“Aoba...you’re a man?”  Anelie’s voice was devoid of emotion.

 

Golden eyes shut tightly against the situation, Aoba nodded slowly.

 

“I’m sorry.  The words...I don’t know...tried to say…”  Aoba’s broken German was tinged with the tears of embarrassment that were forming in his eyes.  “So sorry...couldn’t say...tried…”

 

Aoba felt a hand on the back of his head and Anelie pulled him into a hug.

 

“Don’t apologize.  We should be the ones apologizing.  I’m so sorry Aoba.  Can you ever forgive us?”  Pulling away from him, Anelie looked into his eyes.  It almost seemed as if she was about to cry as well.

 

Feeling a little guilty, Aoba smiled and nodded.  When Anelie released him, he quickly put his clothes back in order.

 

“I should head home now.”  Aoba left the fitting room, but stopped when he felt Anelie’s hand on his shoulder.

 

“Will you at least come drink with us?  Let us make up for it?  It’ll be our treat.”

 

More than anything, Aoba really wanted to be alone so he could process and think about everything that was happening with Klara and Noiz.  But he knew that if he left now, the women who had, in all honesty, been truly kind to him, would think he was upset at them for mistaking him for a girl.  [Well, one drink won’t hurt, I guess.]

 

“Sure.”

 

 


	3. Drunk Dial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aoba gets drunk and makes a phone call.

He was wasted.  Completely, totally, undeniably wasted.  And he didn’t care one little bit.  When he’d agreed to join the women for drinks, he told himself he was only going to have one beer, and then head home.  But one beer turned into two, and then two turned into five, and that five had somehow turned into whiskey shots.  He was still a little fuzzy on how that had happened, but at the moment, everything was fuzzy.

The waiter brought them all another round, as well as several glasses of water, and informed them that the bar would be closing soon.  Checking his coil, Aoba stared at it and squinted until he could make out a ‘2’ and an ‘A’.  Just as his mind was about to process how late it actually was, Johanna pulled on his shirt sleeve.

“Why is it that...hic...that all the really nice guys like you...play for the other team, hmm?”  Her speech was slow and halting, but relatively coherent.

“I don’t play for any teams.  I’m not very good at sports.”  Aoba smiled at her and threw back his last shot of whiskey.  Thankfully, his drunkenness hadn’t affected his speech too much either.

“Yu knw zacty wat s...sh mnt!”  Dana on the other hand, was slurring her words so badly, Aoba wasn’t sure she even knew what she was saying.

“Sh, sh, mnt...Dana, go home.  You’re drunk!”  Aoba laughed and nearly fell off his chair.

“I’m with Hanna.  All the good guys are always gay.”  Ida stared sullenly into her water cup.  “But don’t worry, Aoba.  We support you all the way.”

“She’s right!”  Johanna leaned on him precariously, nearly knocking both of them over.  “I don’t know if Mr. Noiz goes both ways or not, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have a chance with him.”  She grasped Aoba’s hand and shook it slightly, squeezing it reassuringly.

This was the point in the conversation where the logical side of Aoba’s brain would take over and steer said conversation away from such sensitive and embarrassing topics.  At least it would have, had it not currently been swimming in high end German beer and Jack Daniels.

“Klara isn’t fucking Noiz.”  Aoba’s voice was strong and resolute, despite his intoxication.  When the table went quiet and all eyes turned to him, he continued.  “No way.  No way, no way, no way.  Noiz would never, ever be with someone like her.”

“You sound so certain…”  Anelie started, but was promptly cut off.

“Two things.  First of all, Klara is everything Noiz hates about people.  She uses her looks to get what she thinks she wants, she wears waaaay too much make-up, and she takes every single little thing and makes it into this enormous problem.  Nothing she ever says is genuine or meaningful, and she would sooner stab you in the back then shake your hand!”  Aoba stopped for a moment to catch his breath from the rant.

“And second?”  Ida prodded.

“And second...Klara can’t be fucking Noiz, because I am.”

The room was silent except for the tink of glass from the other customers.  Everyone stared at Aoba, opened mouthed, eyes wide.

“Seriously?  Then why did she…?”  Johanna’s shock was evident in her voice.

“She just wants people to think she’s fucking the boss so that they’ll pay attention to her.  But she’s lying.  Here.  I’ll prove it to you.”  Aoba pulled up his coil, and before his brain could interfere, he dialed Noiz’s number.

\-----------------------------

About three miles away, at another bar in town, Noiz was sitting alone at a table nursing his own cocktail.  In front of him lay several tourist guidebooks and travel brochures.  Once his project was finished at work, he planned on taking Aoba on a surprise vacation, and he wanted to make sure he chose the right spot to go.  Just as he was about to pack everything up and head home, his coil rang.  It was Aoba.

“Hey.  It’s kinda late.  Everything okay?”  Noiz kept his voice normal, but he could tell that something was off.  Aoba’s eyes had the almost glassy look they got when he’d been drinking too much, and the scenery behind him was definitely not from the mansion.  “Where are you?”

“Noiz.”  The tone of Aoba’s voice set off a little warning bell in Noiz’s head.  “Noiz.  Who are you sleeping with?”

The question caught him so off guard that Noiz just stared blankly at the video screen of his coil, blinking at the image on it.  When his senses finally returned to him, Noiz sighed, mildly irritated.

“Where are you?”

“Answer me.  Who are you sleeping with?”

As Aoba asked the same question again, Noiz noticed that someone behind Aoba was holding up what appeared to be a drink coaster.  And written across the center was the name of the bar.  Noiz grabbed his bag and dropped some bills on the table, heading for his car.

“You’re not answering.  Who...are...you...sleeping with?”  Aoba repeated the question a bit more earnestly. Noiz ignored him and focused on the road.

With Aoba continuing to ask the same question over and over, Noiz drove to the bar in silence.  The longer his question went unanswered, the more desperate Aoba’s voice became.  When Noiz was about halfway to his destination, Aoba’s question changed.

“Is it true?  Are you really sleeping with her?”  There were tears in Aoba’s voice.

Her?  Noiz raised an eyebrow at the question, mild concern mixing with his irritation.

“Why?  Why?  Am I not good enough anymore?”  Now Aoba really was crying.  “Are you bored with me?”

Noiz swore internally as he pulled into the bar parking lot.  Aoba’s penchants for drama was getting really irritating.  He threw the door of the bar open and instantly caught sight of Aoba’s blue hair.  Aoba was still babbling into his coil, his crying drowning out any actual words, and a few of the women from the office were surrounding him, hands placed on his shoulders and arms, trying to calm him.  Seeing Aoba so distraught caused Noiz to sober a bit and rethink the tongue lashing he was going to give him.  The first thing he had to do was get Aoba to stop crying.

One of the women noticed him striding towards them, and jerked her hand back quickly.  Noticing her reaction, the other women followed her gaze, and upon seeing Noiz, removed their hands as well.  Noiz reached the group, grabbed Aoba’s shoulder, and spun him around roughly.

“Wha?”  Aoba’s startled expression changed to one of anxiety bordering on fear when he saw Noiz.  His voice was nearly inaudible.  “Noiz.”

“I don’t know what crazy ideas you’ve got in your head this time, but listen up, because I’m only saying this once.”  Noiz took a deep breath and looked directly into Aoba’s golden eyes.  “I’m not bored with you, and I’m not seeing someone else.  The only person I care about is you.  The only person I’m sleeping with is you.”  Noiz leaned in, lowered his voice, and spoke in a threatening tone.  “And when we get home, I’m going to fuck you so hard your ears are going to ring for a week.”  Aoba shuddered, whether from fear or arousal, Noiz wasn’t sure.

Grabbing Aoba’s arm, Noiz ushered him towards the door.  As he pushed Aoba out into the parking lot, Noiz turned and faced the women still standing in the bar.

“I don’t want to hear a single word about this at work tomorrow.  Got it?”  Noiz glared mildly at the women.

They all smiled.

“Don’t worry, Boss.  Your secret’s safe with us.”  Anelie’s grin widened as she spoke.

Noiz returned the smile with a smirk, and bowed his head slightly.

 **  
**“Good night, Ladies.”  Content that the women would keep the nights events to themselves, Noiz slipped out the door, helped Aoba to the car, and headed home.


	4. Make-Up

Noiz’s irritation did not fade as he drove home.  Aoba continued to babble incoherently about ‘her’, and by the time Noiz pulled into the driveway, he’d had enough.  After pulling and dragging his drunken boyfriend into the house and up the stairs, Noiz deposited Aoba in the tub, fully clothed, and turned on the shower.  The cold stream of water made Aoba jump, and he tried to crawl out of the tub, but Noiz grabbed his wrists and prevented him from escaping.  When Aoba finally calmed down from the initial shock of the warer, he leaned back against the tile wall and dropped his head to his chest.  Satisfied that Aoba was done struggling, Noiz released him.

 

“I’m going to go get you some coffee.  Stay there and try to sober up.”  The tone of Noiz’s voice was firm, making it very apparent there was no room for argument.  Aoba nodded weakly in response.

 

Taking several deep breaths while the coffee dripped into the pot, Noiz tried to calm his still increasing irritation.  He knew that there was only one way to get Aoba to talk about something, and yelling at him was not it.  Sighing deeply, Noiz ran a hand through his hair.  The way Aoba had sounded when Noiz hadn’t responded to his questions worried Noiz.  The long hours he’d been working had taken a toll on their relationship, but Noiz never thought Aoba would start questioning his fidelity because of it.  And Noiz knew that once Aoba got an idea stuck in his head, it was nearly impossible to get him to forget it.

 

The coffee pot bubbled, bringing Noiz out of his thoughts.  Pouring two mugs full of the black liquid, Noiz headed back up the stairs, steeling himself for a long and difficult conversation.

 

\-------------------

 

Aoba was sitting exactly where Noiz had left him, his clothing now completely soaked through.  Turning off the water, Noiz held one of the mugs in front of Aoba’s face.  Aoba raised his head for a moment, looked at the mug, and then dropped his head back to his chest, shaking it softly in refusal.

 

“Take it.”  Noiz’s voice came out harsher than he intended, and Aoba flinched slightly.  Taking a deep breath, and sighing to himself, Noiz forced himself to remain calm.  “Drink it.  It will help.”

 

With a shaky hand, Aoba finally reached up and took the proffered mug, pulling it back and taking a slow sip.  Satisfied, Noiz sat down on the floor opposite Aoba, and leaned against the closed door.  After a few moments of torturous silence, Aoba spoke.

 

“I’m sorry.” His soft voice sounded pained and Noiz could tell he was on the verge of tears again.  Taking another sip of coffee, Noiz waited for Aoba to continue.  “I’m sorry.  I did something stupid again and caused you trouble.  I was acting like an idiot, and...I’m sorry.”  Aoba dropped his head even lower than before, his voice dropping to a whisper as he apologized.

 

For several minutes, neither of them moved or spoke.  Uncertain whether Aoba was done talking, Noiz continued to drink in silence, taking deep breaths to control his irritation as he waited.  A couple minutes passed before Aoba spoke again.

 

“Noiz.  I...I’m sorry.  I’m sorry for going out and getting drunk.  I’m sorry for calling you.  I’m sorry for being such a bother and for you having to come get me.  I’m just...really sorry.”  By the sound of Aoba’s voice, Noiz could tell that he was barely controlling the tears.  Noiz sighed quietly, knowing that one wrong word and Aoba would lose that control.  “Please...say something…”  The whisper was so soft, Noiz almost didn’t hear it.  Sighing again, he ran his hand through his hair, choosing his words carefully.

 

“Who is ‘her’?”  Somehow managing to keep his voice level, Noiz looked at Aoba, and met the golden gaze when Aoba raised his head.

 

“Huh?”  Obviously not expect the question, Aoba seemed confused by it.

 

“ ‘Her’. The mystery woman you seem to think I’m having an affair with.  Who is it?”  His irritation starting to show through his voice, Noiz gripped his mug tightly, his eyes never breaking away from Aoba’s.

 

Pain and anguish flashed across Aoba’s face.  Noiz continued to maintain eye contact until Aoba looked away, glaring instead into his coffee.  Aoba reached up and brushed a lock of wet hair out of his face before answering.

 

“Klara.”

 

Noiz started slightly at the name.

 

“Klara?  The bitch from financial?  The woman whose very existence makes me want to rip my hair out every time she talks?  That Klara?”  Noiz was so repulsed by the ridiculous idea that he lost his control on his irritation, and his voice reflected it.

 

Aoba curled in on himself a bit and nodded.  Sighing heavily, both in irritation and disbelief, Noiz set down his coffee and dropped his head into his hands.

 

“Why on earth would ever think that I was sleeping with her of all people?”  Noiz’s voice was filled with exhaustion and exasperation.  Aoba sniffled slightly and pulled his legs up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them.

 

“She told all the girls at lunch one day that she was seeing you.  And she knew about your...piercings.  Then I started thinking about all the late night meetings you’d been having with her, and you were always calling her into your office.  I haven’t really seen you for several days.  I know you’re busy, and I understand how important this deal you’re working on is, but...but…”  Aoba dropped his head to his knees, his tears mixing with the water on his pants.  “The only time you ever talk to me any more is when you need something from me at work.  And you haven’t even kissed me in days.  So when she started talking about being with you, and knew about your piercings, I thought...I thought maybe I really wasn’t good enough for you, that you were finally getting tired of me, that you regretted bringing me back to Germany, and that...that you were going to leave me again.”

 

Noiz had lifted his head and was looking at Aoba with a mixture of pain, understanding, and irritation barely showing through his eyes.  Just as he opened his mouth to respond, Aoba continued.

 

“The more I thought about it, the more it seemed true.  But at the same time, I knew that it couldn’t be.  Why would you go to all the trouble and work to bring me here and make a life for us, if you were just going to leave me after a few months?”  His voice was shaking from unshed tears.  “Everything she said just came as such a shock, and made so much sense...I got caught up in my own stupid head.  I know that I’m just being an idiot and over thinking things, and I know that you’re mad at me for not giving you enough credit and doubting you.  I’m sorry.”  Aoba pulled his legs tighter to his chest.  “I’m sorry.”

 

Noiz sat in silence for a moment, unsure of what to say.  His previous idea had been to simply lecture Aoba about over thinking the situation, but Aoba seemed to already know he had done that, and apologized for it.  Knowing that anything he said now would seem redundant, and knowing that Aoba wasn’t particularly trusting of words anyway, Noiz opted for action.

 

He stood slowly and walked to the tub where Aoba sat, still soaking wet.  Gently, he took the half-drunk cup of coffee out of Aoba’s hands and placed it on the counter.  Then, with both hands, he gripped Aoba’s upper arms and lifted him to a standing position.  When Aoba looked at him in confusion, Noiz answered by bending over, reaching a hand under Aoba’s knees, and lifting Aoba into his arms.

 

Aoba struggled slightly, but Noiz was stronger, and he carried Aoba into the bedroom.  Carefully lying him on the bed, Noiz straddled Aoba’s knees, and began removing his wet clothing.  When Aoba tried to stop his hands, insisting he could undress himself, Noiz glared at him gently, brushing a hand across Aoba’s cheek.

 

“Let me.”

 

Nodding in slight confusion at the nearly desperate tone of Noiz’s voice, Aoba allowed his body to relax as Noiz undressed him.  Noiz handled Aoba with gentle touches and slow movements, as though he were made of porcelain.  Once the soaked fabric had been completely removed, Noiz left briefly, returning with a towel.  With the same care he used when removing his clothes, Noiz dried Aoba’s body.  He started with an arm, slowly running the soft towel over Aoba’s pale flesh.  As he moved from Aoba’s arm to his chest, Noiz followed behind the towel, placing gentle kisses over every inch of skin.  Moving to his abdomen and legs, Noiz used the same soft, slow motions, and the same gentle kisses.

 

The tender, passionate touches brought the tears back to Aoba’s eyes.  Once he was completely dry, Noiz quickly removed his own clothes and pulled Aoba underneath the bed covers.  He wrapped one arm around Aoba’s shoulders and the other around his waist, spooning him from behind.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

Noiz’s voice was so soft Aoba almost didn’t hear him, and his eyes opened wide in shock.  Aoba was so caught off guard by the uncharacteristic apology, he couldn’t reply.

 

“I’m sorry for being so...distant lately.  But you were only partly right.  It wasn’t just work.  I was avoiding you on purpose.”  When he felt Aoba stiffen in his arms, Noiz tightened his hold.  “This project is really important to the company, and there’s a lot of pressure for me to do it right.  I need to prove that I can do this.  Not just to work, or to my family...but to you.”  Noiz buried his head in Aoba’s shoulder, planting a small kiss on his shoulder blade.  “I told you when I brought you here that I was going to take care of you, and I was serious.  That’s why I wanted everything with this project to be perfect.  So that I could prove I can do what I said.”  Taking a deep breath, Noiz sighed as he exhaled.  “That’s why I was avoiding you.  Because I knew that if I let myself hold you, or even touch you, I wouldn’t be able to focus on work.”  Another kiss, this time on Aoba’s neck.  “I’m sorry.  I didn’t think about it being just as hard for you as it was for me.”

 

Aoba had recovered slightly from the initial shock of Noiz’s apology, but hearing him open up and be so honest left Aoba reeling.  While his mind processed Noiz’s words and odd behavior, Aoba covered Noiz’s arms with his own and returned the embrace.  Taking this as acceptance of the apology, Noiz continued.

 

“Now, about this supposed affair with Klara.”  Aoba stiffened again at the sudden irritation in Noiz’s voice.  “One of the guys at work happened to see my piercings by accident the other day in the restroom.  I asked him to keep it to himself, so naturally he told everyone.  At least all the guys.  Klara probably overheard them talking about it in the break room one day.”  Noiz sighed heavily and rested his head against Aoba’s hair.  “That woman just can’t take a hint.”  Startled, Aoba tried to look back at Noiz, but his position made it impossible.  “She tried to convince me to go out with her when I first came back to Germany, before I came and got you.  I told her that I already had someone, but she wouldn’t drop it.  I managed to ignore her until I was ready to go get you, and when we came back, she was seeing someone and never said another word about it.  I thought she’d finally given up.”  Kissing the top of Aoba’s head, Noiz tried to muffle another sigh.  “If I’d had any other choice, I wouldn’t have made her the financial liaison for this project.  Every time I meet with her it takes twice as long as it needs to because she draws everything out.  Trust me, I don’t want to spend any longer with that psycho than I have to.  Neither does anyone else.  All the guys at the office know she’s a whore, and won’t go any where near her.  So I don’t know why she’s telling people I’m sleeping with her when I’m obviously not.”

 

Noiz’s breath tickled slightly against Aoba’s head.  He knew Noiz was still irritated, both at him and Klara, but hearing him talk had put Aoba’s fears to rest.  For the most part.  Knowing that Klara had been pursuing Noiz even before Aoba came to Germany bothered him more than he would admit.  And hearing how desperate she seemed to be to get Noiz to notice her, Aoba was fairly certain she was behind the bullying at work.  He thought about telling Noiz about the bullying, but that would just make him even more irritated.  Especially since Aoba had been hiding it for two months.  When Noiz’s arms drew him in tightly again, Aoba pushed back a bit, giving himself room to turn and face Noiz.  He wrapped his arms around Noiz’s waist and buried his head in his warm chest.  Noiz returned the embrace, pulling Aoba close.

 

“I missed you.”  The soft, emotional tone returned to Noiz’s voice.

 

“I missed you too.”  Aoba’s tilted his head back and kissed Noiz softly.  When he tried to deepen the kiss, Noiz pulled away and loosened his hold on Aoba’s waist.

 

“We should get some sleep.  You’re still mostly drunk, and I’ve got more early meetings tomorrow.”

 

While it was true that Aoba was still slightly fuzzy, he was sobering up fast.  And after everything that had happened, he wanted Noiz to touch him, to hold him, and reassure him.  Not just with words, but with actions as well.  He leaned forward, lightly running a hand up Noiz’s exposed side as he whispered in his ear.

 

“Please?  You promised.”

 

With more willpower than he had ever thought he had, Noiz managed to keep himself from turning Aoba over and thrusting into him dry.  He tried to distract his thoughts by thinking of work, focusing his attention on financial reports and contract terms.  If he gave in now, the last week of torturous abstinence would have been meaningless.  Aoba continued to draw lazy patterns on Noiz’s back, lightly grazing his nails over the sensitive flesh.  Noiz closed his eyes and grit his teeth, grabbing Aoba’s arm to stop him.

 

“Aoba.  I told you…”  The strain in Noiz’s voice made Aoba’s heart skip a beat.

 

“You told me you would fuck me till my ears rang.”  Aoba licked at the nape of Noiz’s neck causing him to shiver.  A mischievous smile broke out on Aoba’s face.  “But I guess that was all just big talk from little brat.”

 

Noiz moved so fast, Aoba wasn’t even aware he’d changed positions until he felt the breath being knocked from his lungs and his cheek being pressed into the pillows.  His legs were spread roughly, and a hand lifted his hips, bringing Aoba’s knees just barely off the mattress.  He felt a cold liquid being spread over him quickly, followed by a large, hot presence pushing against his entrance.  A low voice growled in his ear.

 

“You want me to fuck you so bad, fine.  I’ll fuck you.  But when your ears are ringing and you can’t see straight, don’t even think about begging me to stop.  Because I won’t.  I’m going to make you regret teasing me.  And when you can’t sit right tomorrow, just remember that you asked for it.”

 

Noiz began to press himself into the tightness of Aoba’s ass, savoring the moans and gasps coming from beneath him.  He didn’t want to hurt Aoba, not too much anyway, but he was slowly losing the battle against the part of him that simply wanted to bury himself inside of his partner in one single thrust.  Aoba was clutching at the fabric of the sheets beneath him, gasping at the painful pleasure.  Not wanting to give in just yet, Aoba turned his face slightly and grinned tauntingly up at Noiz.

 

“Bring it on.”

  
Noiz lost the battle, thrusting forward suddenly and burying himself to the hilt.


	5. Drastic Measures

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that this took a long time to get out, but its twice as long as usual to make up for it!

When Aoba got to work the next morning, there was a small white box tied with blue ribbon sitting on his desk.  Worried that his bully was getting more daring, Aoba debated simply throwing it in the trash.  But it was also just as possible that the gift was from Noiz.  Noiz would often buy him a small gift of some sort when he and Aoba had a disagreement.  At first, it had irritated Aoba to think that Noiz was trying to use money to buy his affection, but over time he realized that Noiz simply didn’t know how to apologize, so he used presents to try and smooth things over.  With a smile, Aoba decided to open the gift.

 

Pulling off the blue ribbon, Aoba opened the lid of the box.  Inside, was a folded note and a tie-tack.  The tie-tack had a bright blue gem set in the middle of a gold filigree.  Aoba gasped at how beautiful it was, and quickly attached it to his tie.  Once it was situated to his liking, Aoba opened the note.

 

Aoba,

 

We are so very sorry about everything that happened yesterday.  We cannot apologize enough for thinking you were a woman, and we hope you can forgive us for the mistake.  We would hate to lose you as a friend.

 

We also want you to know that your relationship with Mr. Noiz will remain a secret.  You don’t need to worry about us spilling the beans.  We understand how tricky relationships like yours can be, especially in the work place.  Just know that we support you one hundred percent!

 

If you ever need anyone to talk to, let us know.  We’re here for you.

 

The Girls

 

Warmth spread through Aoba’s chest as he read the short note.  It was nice to know that he had not only made friends since moving to Germany, but that they were as caring and accepting as anyone he had ever met.  Refolding the note, Aoba told himself that he would have to do something nice for all of them, and soon.  He placed the note in his pants pocket, and sat down to start on his work for the day.  

 

As soon as his weight shifted from his legs to his rear, a painful twinge reminded Aoba of the events from the previous night.  He lay his head against the cool wood of his desk and sighed, lifting his hips slightly to take some of the pressure from his sore ass.  He smiled to himself as he remembered the heat and passion from the night before.  Noiz had been true to his word, and Aoba’s ears were still ringing slightly.  When the ringing suddenly got louder, Aoba realized that his desk phone had joined the sound in his ears.  He sat up quickly, and pulled the receiver out of it’s cradle.

 

“This is Aoba.”

 

“Aoba.  I need you to bring me the green folder with last week’s reports, and some coffee for the meeting.  Please.”  Noiz’s voice dropped to a near mumble on the last word, and Aoba smiled warmly.  He didn’t think he would ever get tired of Noiz’s clumsy attempts at courtesy.

 

“Sure.  I be right in with them.”  Aoba let the smile on his face show through his voice.

 

“Thanks.”

 

Aoba sighed as he heard the click on the other end, indicating that Noiz had hung up.  ‘Please’ and ‘Thank you’ might have been added to Noiz’s vocabulary, but he hadn’t quite mastered ‘Hello’ and ‘Goodbye’.  A small chuckle accompanied a quick shake of the head as Aoba stood from his desk to go and fix the requested refreshment.  As the coffee brewed, Aoba searched his desk for the green folder he’d been working with only a few days before.  When a cursory search of his recent files turned up nothing, Aoba began looking harder, pulling open all his drawers and checking every document to make sure it wasn’t hidden inside something else.

 

After nearly tearing his desk apart, and having no luck finding the file, Aoba’s heart began to race.  Noiz had a meeting with all of the department heads in less than ten minutes, the whole point of which was to go over the contents of that file.  Aoba walked back to the break room to finish fixing the coffee, taking deep breaths and trying to remember where he’d last seen the folder.  He was certain he’d left it on his desk when he’d finished compiling the data.  Then a thought occurred to him.  Setting the coffee on the counter, he rushed back to his desk, pulling out his briefcase from underneath.  Usually, he never took completed files home, but it was the only place left that he hadn’t checked.

 

When he opened the case, not only was the green folder not inside, but the case was completely empty.  Aoba’s heart dropped into his stomach.  Before going to bed the night before, Noiz had given Aoba a blue folder with the presentation he’d been working on all week.  Some of the figures had been off, and since Noiz had a meeting the next morning, he’d asked Aoba to make the changes and then return it to him when he was done.  The CEO’s from the other three companies involved in the project were flying in tomorrow morning specifically to hear Noiz’s presentation.  And now it was gone.

 

As Aoba stood in front of his desk, the color draining from his face, he saw several of the department heads exiting the elevator and heading for Noiz’s office.  He realized that he was out of time, and that the only thing he could do was admit that he had lost the documents, and face the consequences.  Gathering his resolve, Aoba turned around just as Noiz opened his door to let the attendees in.  Aoba’s eyes grew wide when he saw Klara approaching the door, holding the tray of coffee Aoba had left in the breakroom, and two folders.  One green...and one blue.  When Noiz saw what Klara was holding he raised an eyebrow at her, but before he had a chance to speak, she plastered the most sickly sweet smile on her face, and held out the files to him.

 

“Good morning Mr. Noiz.  I found these downstairs in the Research Lab this morning.  They looked really important, so I wanted to make sure they got back to you as soon as possible.  I would hate for them to get lost.”

 

Noiz’s face betrayed no emotion as he took the proffered folders from the outstretched hand.

 

“Thank you.”  Noiz’s voice was flat, and just as devoid of emotion as his face.  He tucked the folders under his arm.

 

“It was my pleasure.”  Klara’s smile intensified and her voice practically dripped with honey as she laid a hand on Noiz’s forearm.  “I know how much this project means to you.  Oh!  And I made coffee.  I thought it might help keep things going smoothly during the meeting today.”

 

Noiz nodded appreciatively, and gestured for her to go inside.  Once she had joined the others in the office, Noiz turned and glanced briefly at Aoba, before disappearing into his office and closing the door.

 

Aoba felt his breath catch in his throat as he stared at the door.  He slumped into his desk chair and buried his head in his hands.  The look Noiz had given him might have been brief, but it had spoken volumes.  They were going to have a conversation later, and Aoba was certain he wasn’t going to enjoy it.

 

A hand on his shoulder startled Aoba out of his reverie, and his head jerked up to see who it was.  Anelie was looking down at him, worry creasing the skin around her eyes.

 

“What’s wrong, liebchen?”  She glanced at the office door for a moment before turning her gaze back to Aoba.  “Why don’t we take a quick break for some coffee?”  With a gentle pull on his arm, Anelie pulled Aoba from his chair and directed him into the break room.

 

She quickly made two cups of coffee and set them at a table in the far corner, away from any prying ears.  Aoba sat at the table and looked down into the dark liquid.  He scoffed mirthlessly as he realized that this was the second time in less than twenty-four hours he’d had a staring contest with a cup of coffee.  Anelie took a sip from her mug and laid a comforting hand on his wrist.

 

“Did things not go well last night?”  Her voice was soft and caring.

 

Aoba sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

 

“No.  Things went fine.  I told him about what Klara said.  He told me that she had been trying to ask him out for a while, and that he had rejected her every time.  And then...well…”  Aoba blushed, taking a sip of coffee, and Anelie smiled knowingly.  “Everything was fine.  But then, this morning, the file Noiz needed for his meeting went missing, along with all the paperwork for his presentation tomorrow.  I was about to tell him, when Klara showed up claiming she’d found the files down in Research.  And now Noiz is mad at me because he thinks I lost the documents.”  With a sigh, Aoba dropped his head into his hands.  “I don’t even know how she got the files to begin with!  I put the presentation in my briefcase last night, and never even took it out.  And the other folder should have been in my desk.  The only way she could have gotten those files, is if she dug through my desk and briefcase specifically so she could take them.”  Aoba sighed again, deeper this time.  “But it’s not like I can tell Noiz that.  He’ll think I’m just being either over sensitive, or refusing to own up to my own mistakes.”

 

Anelie watched Aoba for a moment while he took another sip of coffee.  When he set his mug down and looked up at her, her eyes were warm, but serious.

 

“No he won’t.  You might not have seen it, but last night, the way he looked at you…”  She smiled and chuckled softly.  “When he looks at you, you are the only thing he can see, the only person in the entire world that matters.  Honestly, I don’t think there’s anything you could do that would change that.  And there’s no way that someone who loves you that much could be swayed by the jealous accusations of a known trouble maker.  You told us yourself last night that he doesn’t even like her.  If he doesn’t like her, then why on earth would he believe her?”

 

Aoba was both shocked and heartened by Anelie’s words.  He remembered the emotion in Noiz’s voice the night before, and felt warmth pooling in his chest, driving out the fear.  Anelie was right.  Noiz would never take Klara’s word over his, no matter what she said to try and convince him.  Aoba felt the stress leave his shoulders as his body relaxed.

 

“You’re right.”  Aoba smiled gratefully at Anelie.  “Thanks.  I needed that.”

 

“My pleasure liebchen.”  Grabbing both mugs, Anelie stood and walked to the sink.  “Now, we need to decide what we’re going to do about Klara.  Lying about sleeping with the boss is one thing, but stealing company documents from a co-worker’s desk and private briefcase is quite another.  I’ll talk to HR and see what we can do.”

 

“But we don’t have any proof…”  Aoba started.

 

“We don’t need any.  We report that you had company documents stolen from your briefcase, which both you, and I’m assuming Mr. Noiz, know you put in there.  Then we tell them that Klara was the one who  found them.  They will question her about where she found them, and any story that she gives will quickly fall apart.  It’s that simple.”  Anelie finished washing the mugs and placed them on the counter to dry.

 

Aoba was about to reply when Dana rushed through the break room door.

 

“Anelie!  There you are.  Stefan jammed the copier again, and then tried to fix it.  Now it’s smoking.  Could you come look at it?”  Dana had spoken quickly, and took a long deep breath when she was done.  Anelie sighed and shook her head with a smile.

 

“Alright.  I’m on my way.”  She turned to Aoba.  “Sorry liebchen.  I’ve got to head back.  We’ll talk more over lunch, okay?”

 

Aoba nodded and shooed her away with a wave of his hand.  He laughed to himself as the two women walked away, Dana complaining about ‘men who think they know everything’.  Setting his shoulders, Aoba returned to his desk, and started on his work for the day.

 

\-------------------

 

Aoba arrived in the locker room just as Anelie and Johanna were pulling on their coats.  He walked quickly to his locker, not wanting to keep the women waiting, and pulled out his suit coat, slipping his right arm through the sleeve.  White hot pain ran through his wrist and forearm, causing him to scream in agony and fall to his knees.  Anelie and Johanna rushed over in a panic.

 

“What is it? What happened?!”  Johanna nearly skidded to her knees beside him, grabbing his elbow.  “My God!!  You’re bleeding!”

 

When he looked down, Aoba saw that the entire sleeve of his coat was drenched in blood, and a small puddle was forming beneath him.  Johanna pinched the hem of the coat sleeve gently, trying to ease it off, but the searing pain sliced through him again, and he felt tears slide down his cheeks as he yelled.  She instantly jerked her hand away.

 

“I’m sorry!  I’m sorry!”

 

Anelie knelt down next to them, having grabbed a handful of paper towels, and placed them underneath Aoba’s arm to stop the blood from dripping on the floor.

 

“Let’s get you into the break room so we can clean you up in the sink.  Hanna, grab a pair of scissors from one of the desks, and the first aid kit from the bathroom, and bring them to me.  Aoba, I want you to stand up very slowly.  Okay?”

 

Aoba nodded slowly, his eyes shut tightly against the pain.  Trying as hard as he could to hold his arm steady, Aoba stood, leaning on Anelie for support when he found himself getting lightheaded.  The locker room was just down the hall from the break room, but by the time they reached it, Aoba felt like he had run a marathon, and his vision was swimming with stars.  As soon as they got to the sink, Anelie lifted his arm into it, and turned on the water, letting it warm up.  Johanna was right behind them with the scissors and first aid kit.

 

Carefully, Anelie took the scissors and cut the sleeve of both Aoba’s coat and shirt away from his arm.  As she gently peeled the fabric away, all three of them gasped in shock.  Underneath the coat sleeve, embedded in the side seam, was a razor blade.  A deep gash ran from the base of Aoba’s wrist to the middle of his forearm.  Aoba was used to the sight of blood, and had never balked at seeing it, but the steady stream of dark red liquid that dripped down his arm made him feel a little sick.  Anelie broke Aoba out of his trance by moving his arm under the warm running water, making sure the stream didn’t hit the cut directly.  It stung, and Aoba bit his lip to keep from crying out again.

 

“You’re going to need stitches.”  Anelie’s voice was more calm and collected than Aoba expected.  “I’m going to put some antibiotic cream on it and wrap it with gauze, but we’ll need to take you in to the doctor right away.  Johanna, go get Mr. Noiz and tell him…”

 

“No!”  Aoba’s sudden yell startled both women, and they flinched.  Aoba lowered his voice.  “No.  Don’t tell Noiz.  Please.”

 

“Aoba, liebchen.  That razor blade didn’t just magically appear in your coat.  Someone put it there, deliberately, trying to hurt you.  Even if the two of you weren’t together, Mr. Noiz is the boss, and he needs to know what’s going on.”  Anelie turned back to Johanna, but Aoba grabbed her arm before she could speak.

 

“Please don’t.  I’ll tell him tonight when he gets home.  This meeting is really important, and I don’t want to bother him.  I promise I’ll tell him later, just...not now.  Besides…”  Aoba took a deep breath and let it out with a sigh that shuddered with unshed tears.  “This isn’t the first time something like this has happened.”

 

Anelie and Johanna both blinked in surprise at Aoba’s statement.  For a moment, neither of them was certain they had heard correctly, since he had spoken so softly.  But the tell-tale hunch of his shoulders, and the way he was avoiding looking in their eyes, made it obvious that they had.

 

“Wait...someone did this to you before...and you didn’t tell anyone?!”  Johanna’s voice rose to a near shriek as she finished her sentence, and Anelie shushed her.

 

“Well...”  Aoba started, running his free hand through his hair for the umpteenth time that day.  “It’s never been this bad before.  Mostly just harmless pranks.  Worms in my food, graffiti on my papers, salt in my coffee, that sort of thing.  I really thought it was just hazing because I was the new guy and because I’m not from here.”  A streak of pain ran through Aoba’s arm and he hissed in a breath through clenched teeth.

 

“This is not just a prank Aoba.”  Anelie reached over and turned off the water, lifting his still bleeding arm up and patting it dry with a paper towel.  She grabbed a small tube of antibacterial cream from the first aid kit, and squeezed out a line along the cut.  “This is serious.”  She replaced the tube of cream, took out a roll of gauze, and started wrapping his arm.  “And while I think your reasons for not telling Mr. Noiz are ridiculous at best, I can’t see the harm in waiting until you return from the doctor’s office to tell him.  But I  am going to file an incident report, so you better talk to him before it shows up on his desk in the morning.”  She finished wrapping and used a piece of medical tape to fasten down the end.  The bandage was already turning red where the blood had started to seep through.

 

Aoba looked up at her and smiled sadly.

 

“Thank you.”

 

She met his gaze and shook her head at him.

 

“Don’t mention it.  Let’s just go and get you stitched up.”

 

With a few quick motions, Anelie had the first aid kit put back together, and handed it to Johanna to put away.  They returned to the locker room, and Anelie grabbed her purse and keys.  Since Aoba’s coat had been destroyed, Johanna gave him hers.  When he protested that he would get blood all over it, she just smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

 

“I know.  It’s alright.  It’s just a coat.  I’ve been meaning to get myself a new one anyway.  Just promise me you’ll go shopping with me later.”

 

Before he had a chance to reply, Johanna winked at him and gave his uninjured hand one last squeeze, before heading back to her desk.  Anelie helped Aoba into the borrowed coat, and then placed a hand under his elbow for support as she steered him towards the elevator.

 

“If you start feeling lightheaded, go ahead and lean on me.  Okay?”

 

The stars were back in full force and Aoba didn’t trust his voice, so he simply nodded and focused all his energy on getting himself to Anelie’s car without passing out.

 

\-------------------

 

The visit to the doctor’s office had been relatively straight forward.  The doctor had several questions about how he’d gotten such a grievous wound, but Anelie had simply told him that someone had been careless with a pair of scissors.  The look on the doctor’s face had made it clear that he didn’t believe her for a second, but he didn’t press the issue.

 

By the time the doctor was done with Aoba’s treatment, they had spent nearly two hours at the hospital, and Aoba’s mind was swimming comfortably in the thick fog of narcotics.  When Aoba tried to apologize for keeping her from work so long, Anelie simply brushed his apology aside and hugged him.

 

“What are friends for if not rushing you to the emergency room when you nearly get your arm sliced off by a psychotic co-worker?”  Her smile was genuine, but her eyes had a darkness in them that made him rethink his opinion of the phrase ‘Hell hath no fury...’.  For a second, he almost felt bad for the person who had put the razor in his coat.  Almost.

 

Anelie had driven him home then, insisting that he get started on the prescribed rest the doctor had ordered.  It had taken both her and the butler to get Aoba upstairs into his room.  The drugs the doctor had given him made it almost impossible for him to walk without his knees collapsing.  Between the two of them, they managed to get Aoba out of his suit, into his pajamas, and tucked into bed.  Without giving away too many details, Anelie explained to the butler what had happened, and gave him the medication and care instructions from the doctor.  Aoba was vaguely aware of Anelie telling him to sleep well and saying good-bye, before the narcotics carried him into the blissful darkness of sleep.

 

\-------------------

 

When Aoba awoke, the room was dark.  His head pounded from the drugged sleep, and his arm was throbbing painfully.  He turned his head gingerly and tried to focus his eyes on the clock on his nightstand.  9:38 PM.  Aoba was mildly shocked that he’d slept that long.  Reaching out with his good hand, Aoba picked up his coil from the nightstand and checked his messages.  No missed calls, and no new messages.

 

Aoba frowned slightly at that.  He had hoped that Noiz would at least send a text when his meeting was over, wanting to talk about the mishap with the files.  His shoulders dropped.  Noiz was probably staying late to get the work on the presentation done that Aoba hadn’t been able to.  It infuriated him.  Things had just gotten better between Noiz and him, and then Klara had to come along and ruin it all.  But he wasn’t going to let her win.  Not this time.

 

Aoba had just sat up and swung his feet over the side of the bed, when there was a knock on his door, and the butler entered.

 

“Ah.  Master Aoba.  I’m glad to see you are awake.  I’ve brought you some hot soup and your medication.  I’ve also brought some fresh bandages for your arm.”  The older man’s voice was strict and formal.

 

“I don’t have time for that right now Hans.  I have to go see Noiz.”  Aoba carefully pushed himself onto his feet, using the nightstand to steady himself.

 

Hans was by his side in moments with a hand under his arm to help support him.

 

“Please Sir, you must rest.  Master Noiz will be home soon I am sure, and he would not be pleased if I allowed you to go out in your condition.”

 

Hans’ insistence did nothing to convince Aoba, and he shook off the butler’s hand.  He took a few stumbling steps forward, heading for his closet.

 

“I’m going whether you want me to or not.  I’ll deal with Noiz if he gets angry.  Now are you going to help me, or am I going to have to drive myself there?”  Aoba turned his golden gaze on the butler, and his eyes flashed with determination.

 

Hans sighed heavily before moving into the closet ahead of Aoba.  He returned relatively quickly with a pair of jeans and a loose fitting shirt.

 

“Very well, Sir.  But I must inform you that I am wholly against this course of action.”

 

Aoba was unbuttoning his shirt before the butler had finished speaking.

 

“Got it.  And thank you.”

 

\-------------------

 

Noiz was peeved.  The meeting that was supposed to last for a few hours in the morning, had continued well into the evening, thanks to the half a million questions and concerns that had been raised by Klara and the finance department.  Noiz wanted this presentation to go well just like everyone else, but he didn’t think going over the same facts and figures twelve different times was going to help that.  By the time they had finished, everyone else in the office had already left for the day.  Including Aoba.  Noiz had been hoping to speak with his blue haired lover about that morning’s incident before he left.  The whole situation had been weird and awkward, and the last thing he wanted was for Aoba to think he was mad at him.  Especially after everything that had happened the night before.

 

When he looked up at the clock, Noiz was mildly shocked to see that it read 8:16 PM.  He hadn’t realized it had gotten so late.  As he stared down at the files on his desk, Noiz felt his eye twitch.  He frowned as the involuntary action increased his irritation even further.  The entire day had been one frustration after another, and he hadn’t been able to hit anything.

 

Not for the first time since starting this job, Noiz missed Rhyme.  While his primary reason for playing the game had been to experience the sensations reality deprived him of, he had found that beating up on virtual representations of people served as a kind of therapy for him.  It was relaxing, and energizing...and fun.  Maybe once this whole project was over, Aoba would indulge him in a brief game.  Then Noiz remembered how their last game had gone and dismissed the thought almost as quickly as he’d had it.

 

With a quick shake of his head, Noiz returned his attention to the problem at hand.  He had checked through every page in each of the folders, and nothing had been missing or out of place.  The idea that Aoba had lost both of the folders was preposterous, so Noiz knew that someone, most likely Klara, had stolen them from his briefcase.  But to what end?  If nothing had been taken or messed with, had she only done it in a feeble attempt to discredit Aoba?  Just how desperate was she to get Noiz’s attention?

 

Noiz ran his hands through his hair, letting his head fall forward until it nearly touched the desk.  He knew there was nothing he could do about the situation until he had heard Aoba’s side of the story, and there was still tomorrow’s presentation to worry about.  Taking a deep breath, Noiz sat up straight and squared his shoulders.  Sitting at his desk worrying wasn’t going to accomplish anything.  He flipped open the folder with his presentation inside, and began to work on fixing the problems Aoba hadn’t had a chance to get to.

 

He worked through his presentation page by page, eyes going over every line, every piece of data, making sure they were right.  If he messed this up, he wasn’t sure there would be a next time.  His brother had already been more accommodating than his father had wanted him to be, by giving Noiz the job in the first place.

 

After he had been working for just over an hour, there was a knock on his office door.  Noiz raised an eyebrow, confused.  He’d thought everyone had already left.  Thinking that perhaps Aoba had returned, wanting to talk to him, Noiz called for the person to come in.  When he saw who was behind the door however, Noiz’s mild irritation grew into full on anger.  It was Klara.  And she was carrying what appeared to be a mug of coffee.

 

“I’m sorry to disturb you Mr. Noiz.  But I thought you could use a little pick-me-up while you prepared for the presentation tomorrow.”

 

Klara’s high pitched voice was almost as irritating as her smile, and it grated on Noiz’s nerves.  He desperately wanted to grab the mug in her hand and fling it’s boiling contents at her face, but knew that if he did, she would file assault charges.  And that would just make things even more complicated than they already were.  So he swallowed his anger, and gave her a brief nod of appreciation and a mumbled ‘thanks’.

 

She set the mug of coffee on the desk, and then stood back and stopped, as though she were waiting for something.  When a full minute passed and she still hadn’t moved, Noiz put down his pen and looked up at her.

 

“Was there something else?”  He tried to keep the anger and ice from his voice, but the look on her face said he hadn’t quite succeeded.  Not surprisingly, he found that he didn’t care.

 

Klara shuffled her feet a bit and wrung her hands.

 

“I just...I just wanted to make sure I made it right.”  Her voice was quiet and shy now.

 

Noiz suppressed a sigh and reached for the mug of coffee.  He drank three full swallows of the abnormally bitter liquid, before setting the mug back down and returning to his paperwork.

  
“It’s fine.  Thank you.”  He spotted a decimal deviation on the page he was working on, and was about to reach for his pen, when his vision began to blur.  He looked up, and had just enough time to see a loving smile spread across Klara’s face, before everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this was supposed to be the last chapter, but it was just too long! So I split it up into two chapters.
> 
> Thank you for being patient with me, as I took forever getting this out. But the final (I promise it's the final) chapter is almost done, and I'll have it posted by the end of next week.


	6. Reconciliation

He was dimly aware of the sound of a voice as his mind began the arduous process of waking up.  As the thick muck clogging his senses began to clear, he tried to open his eyes, but the brightness of the light assaulted his retinas, and he closed them again immediately.  He attempted to lift his hand to rub at his aching eyes, but was stopped short.  His arms were lying on the arms of his office chair, palm up, tied at the wrist with what some kind of rope.  When he gave an experimental pull on his bonds, his chair squeaked slightly.

 

“Oh!  Awake already?  That didn’t take as long as I expected.”  Noiz’s blood ran cold, and every nerve in his body became instantly alert at the words spoken by the all too familiar voice.  “You’re either very resilient, or I didn’t give you a large enough dose.”

 

He felt a hand in his hair, and his head was yanked back to face his assailant.  Blonde hair framed a face painted with a malicious, psychotic smile.  Klara.  Understanding of what had happened hit him like a punch to the gut, and he flicked his eyes down towards his desk, to the empty mug of coffee that she had brought him.

 

“That’s right mein schatz.  (My darling.)  I put a little love potion in your coffee.  Just a harmless little dose of Ketamine.  But don’t worry, you were only out for about ten minutes.  I wouldn’t want to waste any of our precious time together.  You see, you’re going to be mine now.  I’ve already taken care of that little Japanese whore you brought back with you, so now we can be happy together, just the two of us.  Isn’t that wonderful?”  Klara smiled and ran her fingers down the side of Noiz’s face and over his lips.

 

Noiz struggled against his bonds, his mind in turmoil.  He had neither seen nor heard from Aoba since the incident that morning.  What did she mean ‘taken care of’?  There were any number of things she could have meant by it, but Noiz knew what that phrase usually meant.  He’d lived in the back alleys of Midorijima for long enough to have heard it used many times.  Images flashed through Noiz’s mind:  Aoba, lying face down in the middle the street, the wreckage of a car in flames around him.  Aoba, collapsed on the floor of their bedroom, clutching at his throat, white foam leaking from his open mouth.  Aoba...dead.

 

Fear welled up inside of him, and Noiz fought as hard as he could against his restraints.  He felt them give just a little, but not enough for him to free himself.  Lowering his head, Noiz tried to clear the last remaining bits of fog from his mind.  If Aoba really was in trouble, he needed to get out of here quickly, before…  His mind refused to finish the thought, and instead supplied him with the memory of fighting Aoba in Oval Tower while he’d been under Toue’s mind control.  He allowed one side of his mouth to quirk up slightly as he remembered how lithe and stunning Aoba had looked while he fought.  With a quick shake of his head, Noiz pushed away the images of Aoba in danger from his mind.  Aoba was many things, but defenseless wasn’t one of them.  The muscles in his neck twitched with rage as he glared up at Klara, venom in his eyes.

 

“You’re going to have to do better than that.  There’s no way someone like you could even touch him.”  

 

Klara looked at him in astonishment for a moment before throwing her head back and laughing. It was even more high pitched than her normal voice, and Noiz vaguely wondered if it was actually possible for such a sound to rupture his ear drums.  After a moment, Klara stopped laughing and wiped a tear from her eye, looking down at him.

 

“You don’t believe me?”  She met his gaze and Noiz let his conviction and defiance of her claim show in his expression.  With a sigh she lay a cold hand on his cheek, sliding it up to pet through his hair.  “I see.  I didn’t realize he had gotten his claws so far into you.  I guess I’ll just have to show you some proof then.”  Removing her hand Klara moved around to the other side of the desk and grabbed a paper bag from the floor.  

 

“I really didn’t want to do this to you mein schatz, but you’ve left me no choice.”  She upended the bag, dumping its contents onto the desk.

 

Noiz’s heart nearly stopped.  He stared at the object on his desk, wishing, hoping, praying that this was all a nightmare.  The light gray bundle of fabric was stained black with blood.  It was Aoba’s suit coat.  Noiz had ordered it for him from Italy only a few weeks ago, when Aoba had complained about only having a few suits to wear to work.  He remembered the way Aoba’s eyes had shone with happiness as he’d pulled the gift from its box, running his fingers over the high quality wool.  Aoba had never owned anything like it before, and he’d punched Noiz lightly in the arm for spending too much on him.  Noiz had pulled Aoba into a hug, telling him that there wasn’t enough money in the world for him to show him how much he loved him.  Aoba had blushed and kissed him, smiling brightly at Noiz’s rare show of his romantic side.

 

Noiz felt a tear run down the side of his face, and turned his head away from the bloody pile, closing his eyes.  He did not want to let Klara get the upper hand by seeing him weak, by letting her know she had affected him.

 

No such luck.

 

“Oh, don’t cry mein schatz.  Don’t you see?  Don’t you understand?  It’s just the two of us now.  I know you think you cared for that little slut, but he was nothing more than a dirty whore, out to get your money.  But he’s gone now.  Put him out of your mind.  That little tramp won’t interfere with us any longer.”

 

Klara pulled a small plastic case from her purse and set it on the desk next to the blood stained coat.  With quick, deft movements, she rolled up the sleeve of Noiz’s shirt until the crook of his elbow was visible.  Before he could think to resist her, she put a hand under his elbow and lifted until his arm was straight.  The movement pushed his shoulder into an awkward position, made painful by the fact that his wrist was still tied to the arm of the chair.  She pulled Aoba’s coat from the desk and tucked it underneath Noiz’s arm, forcing him to keep it straight when she let go.  The copper tang of blood filled his nose causing the bile to rise in his throat, and another tear to roll down his cheek.  She turned, and he watched, fear gripping his stomach and tying it in knots as she opened the small case on the desk and pulled out a hypodermic needle, filled with a clear liquid.  Noiz jerked back and tugged at his bonds, but the awkward angle of his arm made struggling nearly impossible.

 

“Do you know what this is mein schatz?”  She tilted her head and smiled softly.  His mouth went dry as she placed the needle against the pulsing vein in his arm.  A second later, he felt the sharp prick as it penetrated his skin.  Pushing down on the plunger, she continued speaking.   “This, is Pancuronium Bromide.  It’s a muscle paralyzer.  I know that right now you don’t understand that we’re meant for each other, but over time you’ll start to understand.  This is just to help keep you from hurting yourself while I take us somewhere far away from here.  Somewhere just for us.”  She leaned over him and licked the tear from his cheek.  A disgusted shudder ran down his spine, and he fought the urge to vomit.

 

“I’m going to take very good care of you, mein schatz.”  Klara voice faded to a whisper as she breathed the threat into Noiz’s ear.  She planted a small kiss to his temple before pulling away.  Gently, she pulled the coat out from under his arm, placing it in his lap instead.

 

“But we’ll have plenty of time for that later.  That medicine I gave you should be affecting you soon, and we’ve got to get you ready to go.  Those clothes are much too stuffy for where we’re going.”  Klara stepped out of the office, but reappeared quickly, carrying a large duffle bag, which she set onto the desk.

 

Noiz watched as she emptied the bag, making small piles of clothes and makeup and hair accessories on top of his paperwork.  She talked while she worked, but Noiz wasn’t paying attention to what she was saying.  He dropped his head to look at Aoba’s coat in his lap.  There was more blood than he’d realized at first.  If Aoba wasn’t dead, he was at the very least seriously injured.  His shoulders sagged, and his head dropped even further, touching his chest.  A cold numbness began to spread through his arms and legs, and he felt himself slipping into a state of apathy as the drug worked through his system.  The same state of mind he’d been in when he’d met Aoba, and the one he’d told himself he would never allow himself to fall into again.  He felt a hand in his hair and his head was pushed back until he was looking at Klara, standing over him.

 

“Now then mein schatz, let’s get you changed.”

 

\-------------------

 

Aoba stared out the window of the car, eyes unfocused as the streetlights passed by in bright blurs.  He was anxious, although he couldn’t pinpoint exactly why he felt that way.  It was unusual for Noiz not to call when he was going to be late, but not unheard of.  Especially recently.  With everything that needed to be taken care of before the meeting tomorrow, it wasn’t really a surprise that Noiz hadn’t contacted him.  But no matter how logical his reasoning, Aoba couldn’t calm the butterflies that fluttered around his stomach.

 

They pulled into the parking garage in record time, the trip having only taken fifteen minutes as opposed to the usual twenty Aoba was used to.  He was silently grateful for the lack of traffic at the late hour.  Aoba noticed that Noiz’s car was still there, and heaved a sigh of relief.  At least he wouldn’t have to go looking for him.  There were a few other cars as well, but Aoba paid them no mind.  Waving at Hans in thanks, Aoba jogged to the elevators and quickly selected the correct floor.  When he arrived, he headed straight for Noiz’s office.

 

The door was slightly open, and the light spilled into the main office.  Aoba slowed his approach, not wanting to disturb Noiz if he were in the middle of a call or heavily focused on something.  At the sound of a voice inside the office, he stopped short.  The voice he’d heard had been female, and familiar.  Klara.  He stiffened and crept anxiously towards the office until he could just barely see through the crack in the door.

 

Klara was sitting at Noiz’s desk, leaning forward and peering into a stand-up table top mirror.  She had one eye closed and appeared to putting on eyeshadow.  Aoba flicked his eyes around the room until he found Noiz.  He was sitting in a chair off to the side, just barely within the confines of what Aoba could see through the door.  His head was bowed, resting on his chest, and his arms were hanging limp over the arms of the chair.  He looked like a marionette whose strings had just been cut.  A lump caught in Aoba’s throat and the anxiety in his stomach tightened.  The suit and white shirt Noiz had been wearing when Aoba had left earlier were folded and piled next to him on the floor, and instead, he was wearing a light green short sleeved linen shirt and khaki cargo shorts.  If the situation hadn’t been so serious, Aoba might have laughed at the sheer absurdity of the outfit.  As Aoba tried to figure out exactly what was going on, Klara’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

 

“There we go!  All done.”

 

She stood up, fake smile bright, and Aoba saw that she was wearing a white sundress covered in a sunflower pattern.  Aoba’s mind reeled as the the strangeness of the situation increased.  He watched, confusion growing as she packed the makeup she had scattered all over the desk into a small purse-like bag, stowing the mirror away with it.  When she had finished, she began shuffling around the room, picking up various pieces of clothing, as well as Noiz’s suit, and shoving them into a duffle bag.  She stooped behind the desk, and lifted a gray bundle of cloth, that looked as though it had been hit with a large smattering of red paint.  After a brief second, he recognized it as the suit coat he had been wearing earlier.  The one that had a razor blade embedded in the side seam of the sleeve.  His arm throbbed painfully as he started to realize what was going on.

 

“Now, what should we do with this mein schatz?”  She walked over to Noiz and tilted his head back, holding the coat in front of him.  “I think we should just throw it in the trash like its former owner.  That was you can focus solely on you and I from now on.”  Klara brushed Noiz’s hair out of his face before releasing her hold on his head.

 

Alarm bells went off in Aoba’s head when Noiz’s head dropped back down to his chest, bouncing slightly, as though Noiz didn’t have the strength to hold himself up.  Klara took the coat and tossed in unceremoniously into the garbage can beside Noiz’s desk.  Setting the bags she had packed onto the desk, she pulled up her coil.  She spoke briefly to a someone through audio-only, informing them that they were ready to leave, and then turned back to Noiz, raising his face to look at her once again.

 

“It’s time to go mein schatz.  From now on everything will perfect.  Just the way it should be.”  She leaned down and pressed her lips to Noiz’s softly.

 

A possessive anger flared up in Aoba’s chest and he threw open the door, causing it to slam into the wall.  Klara jerked backwards, startled, and turned towards him, the shocked expression on her face lasting only a moment before turning into a sneer.

 

“Well, well, well.  If it isn’t the little whore.”  She dropped her gaze to his bandaged arm, and her sneer widened, her eyes growing cold.  “Looks like you got my little present earlier.  But it seems you still don’t understand your place, schlampe. (Bitch/Slut)”  Turning away from him, she went back and stood behind the chair where Noiz sat slumped.  She lifted his chin and ran her fingers through his hair.  “You see, Noiz belongs to me now.  We were just about to leave before you so rudely interrupted us.”

 

Aoba looked into Noiz’s eyes and his heart froze when he saw the same dead, apathetic look in them that he’d had back in Midorijima.  Noiz didn’t blink, didn’t twitch as Klara continued to pet him.  Fear coiled around the anxiety in his stomach as he put all the pieces together.

 

“You drugged him.”  His voice nearly caught in his throat as he spoke the words.

 

She smiled down at Noiz with mock tenderness.

 

“He just doesn’t understand that I’m the only person who can love him the way he deserves.  And if he struggled too much, he might hurt himself, and I could never live with myself if that were to happen.  It was for your own good, wasn’t it mein schatz?”  Her high pitched voice was condescending, as though she were speaking to a wayward child instead of an adult.

 

Noiz’s expression didn’t change, and his unfocused eyes stared blankly into the air in front of him.  As Klara continued to speak to Noiz, momentarily ignoring Aoba, ideas flew through Aoba’s mind of ways to get all of them out of this situation.

 

The most prevalent of these ideas came from the voice in the back of his mind, the one that had been dormant in the several months since the incident at Oval Tower.  He recognized its singular opinion immediately.  ‘Destroy’.  And it was a very tempting thought.  Not only had this woman been responsible for the last several months of bullying and torment, but she had made him question Noiz’s loyalty, stolen documents to make Noiz question him, and planted a razor in his coat that had made a twenty centimeter gash up his right arm which had required nearly thirty stitches to close, and was going to leave a horrid scar no matter how well he took care of it.  Not to mention, she had drugged Noiz with Gods knew what, and was currently attempting to kidnap him and drag him away with her.  ‘Destroy’ didn’t seem like a very bad plan at all, and was far more merciful than Aoba felt the woman deserved.  He knew it would be a simple matter to wreck her mind.  One look in the eyes, a careful application of SCRAP, and she would be nothing more than a blubbering mess on the floor, foaming at the mouth and condemned to spend the rest of her life eating all of her meals from a tube.

 

He wanted to do it.  Make her writhe in agony and regret the day she’d even thought of hurting Noiz.  But he knew he wouldn’t.  After everything that had happened at Oval Tower, he had sworn to himself that he would never, ever use his SCRAP again, no matter the circumstance, no matter the consequences.  Nothing was worth putting the people he loved through the same horrors again.  He looked in Noiz’s eyes, at the emptiness he saw in them, and noticed the faint tear streaks down his lover’s cheeks for the first time.  Closing his eyes and steeling himself, Aoba walked over to where Klara still stood, muttering nonsense into Noiz’s hair while she stroked his head.  When he was within reach of her, Aoba placed a hand on top of hers, halting the motion.  Startled, she looked up and met his soft golden gaze.

 

“It hurts...when the people we love don’t feel the same.  Almost like a...a dagger piercing through your heart.”  Aoba kept his voice gentle and warm, not quite SCRAP, but just on the edge.  The same voice he had used on the phone at Heibon.  The same voice he had used on Noiz to coax him into helping them when they left to rescue Granny.  “It feels like the whole world is coming down around you, and that nothing will ever be alright again.  But…”  He paused for a second and swallowed back the emotions rising up in his throat that were threatening to overwhelm him.  “But it will.  I promise.  Someday...someone will look into your eyes and you’ll be able to see their love reflected in them.  Your breath will catch in your throat, and your heart will skip beats as it leaps in your chest.  And you’ll know...know that you love them as much as they love you, that you’ll do anything to keep them safe.  Do you understand?  You’re trying to take away the most important person in my life, and I will do anything to keep him safe.”

 

Klara’s expressions changed rapidly as Aoba spoke.  For a moment, he was sure she was listening and that he would be able to talk her into letting Noiz go.  But then something had changed suddenly, and Aoba knew that no amount of talking was going to calm what ever madness was in her mind.  She smacked his hand away from hers, pushing him backwards, and causing him to almost lose his balance as she ran to desk and opened one of the bags there.  Recovering quickly he followed after her, reaching her just as she pulled the cap from a hypodermic needle.

 

She whirled to face him, stabbing at him with the sharp tip.  But Aoba’s reflexes were fast, and he caught her wrist deftly, turning it sharply and bending her arm so that the needle pierced her stomach.  He placed his thumb on top of hers, and pushed the plunger down.  His eyes glowed like molten gold as he leaned his face in close to hers and whispered threateningly.

 

“Anything.”

 

With a shudder, her arm went limp in his hand, and he released her.  She sunk to her knees, eyes wide with horror.  Aoba left her there and went back to Noiz’s side, lifting his head and pressing their foreheads together, as he often did with Ren.  His eyes had stopped glowing, and met the vacant green stare.  He lifted his other hand and cupped it behind Noiz’s head.

 

“Es ist gut, mein liebe. Ich habe dich. Und ich werde niemals loslassen.”  (It’s okay, my love.  I’ve got you.  And I’m never letting go.)

 

\-------------------

 

Aoba had called the police and an ambulance soon after Klara had been injected with the extra dose of Pancuronium bromide she’d tried to use on him.  They had arrived quickly, and Noiz and Klara had been rushed to the hospital.  The police had met with Aoba after he’d made sure that Noiz was going to be alright, and told them everything he knew about what had happened.  Which was startlingly little.

 

It had taken nearly an hour for the paralytic to wear off, and once the doctor had made sure there was no lasting damage, Aoba had been shuffled out of the room so that the police could get a statement from Noiz.  Klara was immediately arrested.

 

Once he was finished talking with the police, Noiz had insisted upon going home.  Both Aoba and the doctor disagreed vehemently, and Noiz finally gave in after seeing the stubborn look in Aoba’s eyes.  Noiz was worried about his presentation, not wanting to lose out on what he had been working so hard on for the last several weeks, and so Aoba had volunteered to go in his place.  Reluctantly, Noiz agreed.

 

Aoba spent thirty minutes looking over the presentation before he was going to have to give it, and he was woefully unprepared.  But he explained the situation to the other attendees, giving them a white lie about the incidents of the night before being a case of corporate espionage, and they had been extremely patient with him during the entire meeting.

 

When Aoba returned to the hospital to tell Noiz how it had gone, Noiz had seemed pleased, and extremely grateful.  Then he’d glared pointedly at Aoba’s injured arm and demanded an explanation.  And so Aoba told him all about the bullying and the razor in his coat.  At first, Noiz had seemed pissed off beyond belief.  But after a moment he seemed to calm down and had looked lovingly into Aoba’s gold eyes.

 

“I know you’re capable of handling your own problems.  But I also know that I’ve told you a hundred times you don’t have to do it on your own anymore.  And so, just like I can go to you if there’s something wrong, you can come to me if you need help.  I know you know this.  So I’m not going to start being overprotective or insist you have a bodyguard or anything like that.  I’m just going to ask you for one thing.”  Noiz smirked.  “Next time, could you maybe give me a heads up before I end up drugged and tied to my chair?”

 

Two days later, Noiz had finally been released from the hospital, and he was as cranky as he had ever been.  For one, Noiz hated hospitals with a passion, and desperately hated being confined to a bed for hours on end with nothing to do.  And two, Aoba had refused to have sex with him in his hospital bed.  Noiz had complained saying that ‘they’d done it before so why couldn’t they do it again’?  And Aoba had countered with something along the lines of ‘been there, done that, now I never need to do it again’.  It had left Noiz in a fowl mood, and no amount of bunny shaped apples would lighten it.

 

Aoba’s presentation of Noiz’s material had gone better than he thought.  Noiz had gotten a call shortly after leaving the hospital, and the investors had accepted his proposal.  And while everyone in the office was excited, it meant there was a lot of extra work that had to be done.

 

Noiz was under strict orders from the doctor that he was supposed to rest in bed for at least another two to three days after leaving the hospital, and Aoba stayed home to make sure he did.  Of course, once they were back in their own bed, ‘resting’ was not the only thing that happened.

 

A week later, Klara had been charged with attempted kidnapping, use of an illegal substance, stalking, and assault.  Secretly, Aoba wished there was a charge for being an all around bitch so that she’d have to spend even more time in prison, but he knew deep down that he was just being petty.  But it didn’t stop him from celebrating a little when they set her bail to high for anyone who knew her to pay.

 

Once he returned to the office, Noiz had filled Klara’s vacated position rather quickly.  A small, dark haired girl named Liesel, who looked more like a librarian than an accountant, started at the office shortly after Noiz and Aoba returned.  She was immediately accepted as part of the girl’s lunch group, and Aoba found he liked her logical, no-nonsense approach to life.

 

Life returned to something approaching normal.  Well...almost.

 

\-------------------

 

There was a knock on Noiz’s office door.  It was his lunch break, and he knew he didn’t have any appointments or meetings until later in the afternoon.  A corner of his mouth twitch up in a half smile.

 

“Come in.”

 

The door opened slowly and a blue head poked inside, the pale face attached to it flushed pink.  Aoba entered the office and closed the door behind him, leaning against the wall and panting heavily.

 

“Noiz...please…”  Aoba had reverted to Japanese, and his soft breathy voice sent a shiver down Noiz’s spine.

 

“Is there something wrong Aoba?”  Noiz smirked knowingly at his lover and set down the sandwich he’d been eating.

 

Aoba glared at him and walked almost haltingly towards him until he reached Noiz’s chair.  He grabbed Noiz’s tie and collar and pulled him up, crashing his lips into Noiz’s.  Slipping a hand up into the sandy hair, Aoba made a fist and yanked on the fine strands, causing Noiz to gasp slightly at the pain.  Taking the opportunity, Aoba bit into Noiz’s lower lip, drawing blood before deepening the kiss, sliding his tongue around the entirety of Noiz’s mouth.

 

Noiz moaned appreciatively as he tangled his tongue with Aoba’s, the coppery taste of his blood mingling with the sweetness of Aoba’s own taste.  He wrapped his arms around Aoba’s back, grabbing handfuls of fabric and pulling Aoba towards him.

 

The kiss was more passionate and desperate than their usual kisses, and they both had to pull away for air after a few moments.  Leaning in, Aoba ground his hips into Noiz’s, rubbing his obvious erection against the hardness in Noiz’s own pants.  He pulled Noiz’s head down and nipped at his ear, his voice thick with need.

 

“Noiz...hurry...I need you...right now…”

 

If he hadn’t been so extremely aroused by the uncommon statement, Noiz would have chuckled.  He settled for smiling and kissing along Aoba’s neck instead.

 

“You realize we’re still at work right?  My office door isn’t locked.  Anyone could just walk right in here and catch us.”

 

“No they...haaah...no they won’t.  Everyone knocks first.  Nggh.”

 

Aoba loosened Noiz’s tie and began unbuttoning his shirt, pressing his lips into the hollow between Noiz’s neck and collarbone and nipping at it softly.  A small thrill ran through him as he heard Noiz’s breath catch as he tried to hold back a moan.  Noiz didn’t have many erogenous zones, but the ones Aoba had managed to find elicited enough of a response to makeup for the small number of them.  And Aoba loved seeing Noiz lose control of his apathetic mask, even for just a moment.

 

But Aoba wasn’t the only one who knew where his partners weak spots were.  Grinning wickedly, Noiz slid a hand down the front of Aoba’s shirt until he found the hard nub of Aoba’s nipple, and pinched in gently.  It took every ounce of self control Aoba had not to throw his head back and moan.  Instead, he stifled his exclamation by biting into Noiz’s shoulder and using the fabric of his suit to muffle the sound.  Noiz continued to kiss and suck along the side of Aoba’s neck, his hands alternating between playing with Aoba’s nipples, and unbuttoning his shirt.  When the shirt was completely open, Noiz slipped his hands inside, suppressing a groan as he felt the heated flesh of Aoba’s chest.

 

While Noiz continued his quest to turn Aoba into a shuddering mess, Aoba decided that, although insanely hot, he’d had enough of foreplay and wanted to get to the main attraction.  He dropped his hands to Noiz’s belt and unbuckled it swiftly, pulling Noiz’s pants open so roughly he felt Noiz smirk against his neck.  But he ignored Noiz’s half chuckle at him in favor of reaching a hand into Noiz’s underwear and pulling out his weeping cock.  As he stroked along the piercings adorning the thick shaft, Aoba used his other hand to unbuckle his own belt and push his pants and underwear down past his hips.  Noiz smirked again.

 

“Do you have any idea how hot you are when you’re like this Aoba?  So desperate and wanton?”  Noiz reached a hand behind Aoba’s hips and pulled gently at the thin cord dangling from Aoba’s ass.  “If this is the sort of reaction I’m going to get, I might just have to make you wear one of these everyday.”

 

He tugged sharply at the toy that was buzzing around inside his lover, causing Aoba to pull his hand away from Noiz’s arousal in order to cover his own mouth as he gasped with pleasure.  When he finally got his voice under control, Aoba reached up and fisted his hand in Noiz’s hair again, pulling him close and whispering hotly in his ear.

 

“If you don’t take that thing out right now and fuck me, the only action you’ll see for a month will be with your own hand.”

 

Noiz groaned as desire flared up even stronger inside him, and decided that the love egg currently buried in Aoba’s ass was money well spent.

 

“Well, when you say it like that…”  Noiz grabbed Aoba’s arms and flipped him around, bending him over the desk and pinning his wrists above his head.  “...how can I refuse?”

 

Releasing Aoba’s wrists, Noiz finished pushing Aoba’s pants down to his knees.  Quickly, he pulled the vibrating toy out of Aoba, and Aoba dug his fingers into Noiz’s desk as he bit his lip in an attempt to stifle his scream.  Noiz opened the top drawer of his desk and pulled out a small bottle of lube, drizzling a tiny stream between Aoba’s cheeks.  He carefully pushed two fingers into the red and slightly swollen hole.  Aoba pressed his fist against his mouth, moaning and panting heavily.  When Noiz felt the fleshy mound under his fingers, he pressed down slightly, and felt Aoba clench around him as he nearly sobbed into his hand.

 

“Noi...Noiz...please...hurry...I’m ready…”

 

Taking a few deep breaths, Noiz tried to calm himself as he slicked his erection with another dribble of lube, and pressed the tip of his cock against Aoba’s ass.  Gripping Aoba’s hips firmly in his hands, he pushed slowly into the tight heat, listening carefully for any sounds of pain or distress from his partner.

 

“Ngggghhh...haa...aaaahh...go fa...faster you little...brat…”

 

With a snap of his hips, Noiz buried himself to the hilt, smirking when Aoba’s scream faded into a whimper and he clenched tightly around the intrusion in his backside.  Pausing briefly to allow Aoba to adjust, Noiz began to thrust quickly and roughly into his lover, wishing Aoba didn’t have to muffle his voice so he could hear his breathless moans.  But Aoba kept his fist firmly planted against his mouth, biting down softly as the pressure that had been building for hours began to reach its peak.

 

Knowing that neither of them was going to last very long, Noiz reached around and began stroking Aoba’s cock, increasing the speed of his own thrusts to match.  He felt Aoba clench even tighter around him, and warm sticky fluid spilled out onto his hand and the floor, and Aoba lost a small amount of control over his voice and a soft scream escaped him.  The increased tightness sent Noiz over the edge, and he emptied himself into Aoba, groaning through closed lips as he did.

 

Noiz pulled out slowly, Aoba whimpering as one of his piercings rubbed over his sensitive prostate.  Once he was out, he pushed the egg shaped toy back into Aoba, being sure to turn off the vibration, and pulled Aoba’s pants back up over his hips.  When Aoba whined in protest, Noiz pulled him up and brushed damp blue bangs out of his face, pressing a soft kiss to his lips.

 

“It’s better than spending the rest of the day leaking into your underwear.”  Golden eyes glared up at him, threatening retribution.

 

“Fine.  But we’re leaving right after your meeting this afternoon, and when we get home…”  Aoba smiled and his gold eyes danced with mischief.  “...I get to be on top.”

 

Noiz returned the smirk and met the playfully menacing gaze with a matching green one.

 

“If you insist.  I’ll let you ride me to your hearts content.”

 

\-------------------

 

Liesel was on her way to deliver a report to Mr. Noiz’s office when a hand on her arm stopped her.  Turning, she saw Anelie, one of the ladies she worked with and who frequently joined her for lunch.

 

“Is that for Mr. Noiz?”  Anelie asked politely, smile genuine.

 

“It is.  I thought I should get it to him as soon as possible.  He’s going to need it for his meeting later.”  Liesel didn’t return the smile, but she didn’t frown either.

 

“Well, he’s in the middle of his lunch right now, and he really, really doesn’t like being disturbed.  But I have some documents to take to him later, and I’ll make sure he gets it in plenty of time.”  With another smile, Anelie held out her hand for the paperwork in Liesel’s hand.

 

After a moment of hesitation, Liesel handed it over and turned back to the elevators.  Anelie walked to Aoba’s desk and sat on the corner of it, setting the paperwork for Noiz on top of a pile of folders.  A few moments later, Aoba emerged from the office, smoothing down his hair and buttoning his coat.  He grinned wolfishly when he saw Anelie at his desk.  She returned the look.

 

“Well?”  She asked, cocking her head slightly to the side.

 

The grin increased as Aoba got closer.  Once he was close enough, he dropped his voice so that she was the only one who could hear it.

 

“I think unabashed begging is a definite yes.”

 

The glow in Aoba’s golden eyes made Anelie snicker softly.

 

“You know that sex in the office is dangerous right?”  Her voice had a serious undertone beneath the amusement.

 

Aoba looked directly into her eyes, letting the mischief in them show plainly.

  
“That’s half the fun.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap! Thank you soooo much to everyone who sent me their thoughts and comments. Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> (Anyone who actually speaks German, if my translation was awful, please let me know.)


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